The Dagger
Well, it's official now. The Wolves are a lottery team.
The game wasn't even on TV, so I didn't get to watch it all end. It's unfortunate that the Wolves had to wait this long before starting to play well, because they just put themselves in a spot where they have very little chance to make the playoffs. Had we actually made the playoffs, we would have been a big pest to the Suns in the first round. I'm sure they're breathing a huge sigh of relief right now that they get to play the Grizz instead of us.
The loss to Denver is what really ended our season. It was a very close game and probably a game we should have won. The next night against Atlanta, we looked like a team that was demoralized. Somehow, we managed to lose to the Hawks, a team that has only won 3 times since the beginning of February.
The good news is that the Wolves did seem to end the season on a strong note, so we know that they still are capable of winning. A little bit of restructuring and a first round draft pick will likely turn us back into a playoff team next year. Since we're a lottery team, we'll have something like a 1.6% chance of getting the top pick. Not a great chance, but it would be pretty sweet if it happened.
Last off season, I said it was good that the Wolves didn't make any big moves. Despite not making any, they were many people's favorites to win it all this year. That was before the nightmare occurred. This season, the Wolves will be forced to make a bunch of moves. To not do so would be suicidal. It seems likely that we'll take a point guard with our first round pick, Sprewell will be released, and we'll probably do our best to trade Cassell as well as Szczerbiak.
But for the rest of this season, I've got two words:
Ndudi Ebi.
The game wasn't even on TV, so I didn't get to watch it all end. It's unfortunate that the Wolves had to wait this long before starting to play well, because they just put themselves in a spot where they have very little chance to make the playoffs. Had we actually made the playoffs, we would have been a big pest to the Suns in the first round. I'm sure they're breathing a huge sigh of relief right now that they get to play the Grizz instead of us.
The loss to Denver is what really ended our season. It was a very close game and probably a game we should have won. The next night against Atlanta, we looked like a team that was demoralized. Somehow, we managed to lose to the Hawks, a team that has only won 3 times since the beginning of February.
The good news is that the Wolves did seem to end the season on a strong note, so we know that they still are capable of winning. A little bit of restructuring and a first round draft pick will likely turn us back into a playoff team next year. Since we're a lottery team, we'll have something like a 1.6% chance of getting the top pick. Not a great chance, but it would be pretty sweet if it happened.
Last off season, I said it was good that the Wolves didn't make any big moves. Despite not making any, they were many people's favorites to win it all this year. That was before the nightmare occurred. This season, the Wolves will be forced to make a bunch of moves. To not do so would be suicidal. It seems likely that we'll take a point guard with our first round pick, Sprewell will be released, and we'll probably do our best to trade Cassell as well as Szczerbiak.
But for the rest of this season, I've got two words:
Ndudi Ebi.
